The Great American Read: Take on some summer reading with PBS

By Kristina Fonteskfontes@heraldnews.com

Sunday

May 20, 2018 at 3:58 PM

Have you ever wondered just what book could actually be named the great American novel?

Well this summer PBS is aiming to find out.

"The Great American Read," which kicks off May 22 on local PBS stations, is an eight-part series celebrating reading. Through a national survey, PBS has put together a list of the 100 best-loved books in America and at the end of this series viewers will be asked to narrow that list down to just one.

This takes summer reading to the next level.

According to the project's website, this series "investigates how and why writers create their fictional worlds, how we as readers are affected by these stories, and what these 100 different books have to say about our diverse nation and our shared human experience."

And this list is just as diverse as we are. There's a little bit of everything on there, from classics like "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" and "Little Women," to cult favorites like "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and the "Outlander" series, to some of dubious literary merit, like the "Twilight" series.

But these are Americans’ "best-loved" books, not necessarily the best books ever written. Apologies to "Twilight" fans, but I read that whole series, and I think I know a good book when I see one. In this case, they were just not good books. Doesn't mean lots and lots of people didn't love them though. To each their own, right?

The series premieres Tuesday, with a two-hour launch episode revealing the 100 books that made the list, followed by five themed episodes, then a finale, which will announce the results of a nationwide vote where viewers and readers will get to choose America's best-loved book. Voting will be open online and on social media after the premiere. Viewers will be able to cast their votes throughout the summer, until the finale in October. During the summer, votes can be cast online and via hashtags on Facebook and Twitter. In the fall, viewers can vote through text messaging and a toll-free line.

On The Great American Read website, PBS describes the series as "the centerpiece of an ambitious multi-platform digital, educational and community outreach campaign, designed to get the country reading and passionately talking about books."

To me, that's the best part. Sure, I get to nerd out about books in this space, but I don't actually know that many people who are as into reading and talking about books as I am. And sure, I have people in my life who love to read, no doubt about that, but these folks either aren't as obsessed as I am, live very far away, or don't really get my deep and abiding love for Renaissance literature.

I have a very particular set of reading skills.

And thankfully, The Great American read is not only encouraging everyone to talk about and share the sorts of literature that they love, they have also created a Facebook group. Just go to Facebook and type "The Great American Read Book Club" into the search bar. You'll have to answer a couple of very easy questions to join, but then you too can be part of a whole group of folks who are happy to dish about their favorite reads.

Not that I think most of us will have the time to read all these books over the course of the summer, but I'm going to make a point of reading all of them, however long it takes me. Of course, I'm quite lucky in that I have already read a good number, but I'm going to read the new-to-me books first and then go back and reread the rest. Nothing quite pays off like a nice rereading of a good book.

To check out the books that made the list, visit www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/books/#/.

Want to see how many of them you've read? Just click here.

For more resources and information, visit The Great American Read website at www.pbs.org/the-great-american-read/home.

And tune in to your local PBS station on Tuesday, May 22, at 8 p.m. for the two-hour premiere.

Happy reading!

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